DescentBB

I was at a friend of mines appartment last night and she told me that her computer wont boot. So I turned it on and it just consistantly reboots like every 3-4 seconds. It starts booting, turns off and on really quickly, then starts again. Its a really fast on/off, but you can hear the fan slow down a bit, then speed up again when this happens. It's a compaq and never gets past the displaying logo part before it reboots again on the boot. It never gets to windows or comes even close but she told me she was running winME

I opened up her case to find that it was absolutely caked with a film of dust. She had her computer up against the back of her desk, and the vent was blocked. She told me she has had it for three years. The vent was completely covered in a film of dust, her cards all had a very thick film of dust on them. Everything did. So my other idea is that something might of just overheated since it had no ventilation? Or maybe the dust ruined something?

Any ideas? Is it probably the power supply? If so what information do I need from her powersuply to go to the store and get a new one? Or are they standard? Or is there no way for me to tell what is wrong and should she just take it to CompUSA or something?

Thanks

All the compaq's i've seen have used proprietary power supplies.

The main problems that come to mind are Windows ME, Compaq, and dust. Severity in that order.

Seriously though, the PSU will have a sticker on the side of it. It will have all sorts of stats about the 12, 5 and 3.3 volt rails. somewhere on that sticker you'll also find it's max output, for a three year machine I'd guess 200-250 watts.

Don't open the powersupply.

Unplug the beast, ground yourself to it, and clean it all out. Don't use a vacume on it, since vacums create a fair amount of static electricity. Once it's cleaned out, find it a roomier home and see what happens.

Matrix's sister has a compaq (I think, might be a HP) that only has a 90 watt power supply, states right on the label 1.5A for +12v, 10A for +5v and 6A for 3.3v. Dont count on that supply being 200+ watts standard. Cleaning it might help, but if dust/heat was a problem then it would start up and run for at least a while after sitting cold. Get all the dust off with a can o compressed air, then give it the old nose test (Turn it on for a while and see if it smells like roasted capacitors).

See if you can get into BIOS and check the voltages.

Actually I guess the first thing you should do is make sure the switch on the back of supply is set to 115v and not 220. I've seen computers with the supply set wrong post and run, but crash as soon as anything power hungry comes online (like the hard drive).

-Krom

Take that thing outside and take a can of air to it pronto. Do not blow on any of the parts inside as you'll be introducing moisture. Moisture and electricity are not good bedfellows. Then take that sucker back inside and make sure all the fans will still spin like they're supposed to. (they probably won't, so you might have to 3-in-1 them) Then power the system up and see what happens.

How's the CPU seated? It seems unlikely, but if the thermal interface material is toasted, then the CPU temperature would sky-rocket within seconds, resulting in a crash. Just an idea.

Does it get through the RAM check? Enabled "Quick power-on self test" in BIOS?

Does the PSU smell hot if you just leave it to continuously reboot?

CPU could be dead - but that'd give you a BIOS error code beep I think.

When I checked it out it had been cold for 3 days and rebooted just as fast as it did once I had it running for a while.

I couldn't get into bios. I could see it flash for a second but then the computer would reboot.

Discharge cmos.

golden shower

MD has the right idea, get the dust out first, you may have to dis-assemble it completely and wash it in water (after blowing it out first), but make sure you let all the parts dry in a warm, dry location (not too hot though) for at least 24 hours.

Don't wash the PSU though, hehe, just blow it out thoroughly.

If it still doesn't fire up, then more than likely, the PSU is bad. If this is the case, I recommend buying a new case/PSU and motherboard that will take the same cpu/ram... get rid of the proprietary crap.

Theres one problem with a new case/PS Capm. Compaq, Dell, Gateway use proprietary ATX connectors to prevent exactly what you describe. Half the time, the hardware they use in the system is proprietary also. Hell, I've got a 4x SCSI CD-ROM in the other room with a 40 pin connector. (yes, it is SCSI. I know this for a fact because instead of the M/S/CS jumpers, its got "SCSI ID 1,2,3,4".)

Mobius: A dead CPU would generate a POST code.

Krom's suggestion is a good one though. Clean that sucker out, check all the fans, and then pop the battery and clear the CMOS. Be sure to check all cable connections as something could have worked loose. Reseat them all if you really feel the need.

Oh yea, the proprietary drives. What a hunk of crap. Thats so annoying.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by MD-2389:
blah blah.... use proprietary ATX connectors to prevent exactly what you describe</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Better look that up again chief!

HP : yes (original evil creator of the IDEA)
Compaq : Yes ALL
Dell : Yes (even their MacDaddy gaming rig)
Gateway : NO - Intel Spec Boards (except the profile series which has an external PSU)

If memory serves, they just reversed a couple of the pins but at this point I'd say bite the bullet and convince her its time to upgrade...and steer her clear of anything prefab.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Arial" size="3">Originally posted by Capm:
MD has the right idea, get the dust out first, you may have to dis-assemble it completely and wash it in water (after blowing it out first), but make sure you let all the parts dry in a warm, dry location (not too hot though) for at least 24 hours.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

DO WHAT?!?!?!?!?!!?!

Yeah...

LMAO!!!, actually im very curious, using water to clean puter componnents?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?


ive never heard of such a thing, except for jokes

Ace, you can wash PC parts in water, yes. Preferrably Distilled Water (warm works best), but if you have a water filter or your water isn't real hard, then tap water may suffice.

I've been working on PC's for 15 years, and I've done this about ten thousand times and had no problems. It is the only sure-fire way to get rid of all the dust and dirt.

You just have to make sure that all the parts are very thoroughly dry when you put them back together, hence the 24 hour dry cycle....

So chill out Ace, its not as horrifying as you think, you just gotta use your brain.... you do have a brain, right?

Ace, I can personally verifiy what Capm is saying. I did the same damn thing to a customer's computer....who's wife chain-smoked around the computer. I don't even want to go into how much tar was on the inside of that case. Even after cleaning all that **** out, it still stunk so I pulled everything out, popped the CMOS battery and discharged the system. Then I gave every part a good scrubbing in soapy water and used rubbing alcohol to make sure there wouldn't be any hard water deposits. For the case, I removed the power supply, febreezed the **** out of it, tossed in a glade and taped it air-tight. You better believe I charged them for this too. *shudders*